Rick Smith was the Boston Bruins 2nd round draft choice in the 1966 amateur draft. He joined the Bruins to stay during the 1968-69 season and was a member of their Stanley Cup winning team the following season.

By the end of the 1969-70 Rick Smith had the reputation around the NHL as being a very solid, dependable defensive defenseman. He would never add much offensively to a team however he rarely made a defensive error in his own zone. Late in the 1971-72 season Rick was traded to the California Golden Seals. After the 1972-73 season he received a very attractive offer from the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints and wasted little time in accepting it. He had a very strong 1973-74 season helping the Saints to advance to the Avco World Trophy semi-finals.

Billy Harris was counting strongly on Rick for Team Canada. Along with blue-line partner Paul Shmyr Rick played outstanding defensively in the first four games giving goalie Gerry Cheevers outstanding protection. That changed in Moscow however. The Soviets raised the level of their game, and that along with the bigger ice lead to Rick struggling. He didn't play badly, he simply was not as effective as he was in Canada. After the summit Rick would continue on with a very solid professional career, retiring during the 1980-81 season.